With Tui visiting the feeder very regularly now we were surprised to find that even with a group of us on the patio nearby over the weekend they still flew in to refresh themselves.
Our visitors enjoyed watching them and like us were surprised at how daring the birds were.
So on the basis of that I set up my chair on the edge of the patio and armed with camera sat and waited. My patience was rewarded.
So here is one of our frequent flyers, up close and personal.

After relentless gales from the northwest we were blessed today with a cool, gentle southerly wind change. That brought us the astounding sound of silence from the noise of the winds, stillness to be outdoors and enjoy it, and warmth from the sunshine.

Jazz made the best of the conditions as he stretched to soak up the prevailing goodness.

It is official. Even the scientists confirm my suspicions. It has been a very windy spring and while we are used to that here in windy Wellington, many of the gales have been much stronger than the usual blustery conditions we live with.
Almost without fail there have been wind warnings forecasting gusts of up to 140kms per hour. Fortunately my particularly patch on earth has a degree of shelter from these northwesterlies. But we have sustained damage, most recently to an old television aerial.
You can see the trees in the tall tree part of our garden taking a buffeting. The fresh leaves of the birch trees are already looking bedraggled and bent in response to the prevailing bluster.

The Viburnum “pom poms” are burnt and brown.

Those are the ones that have survived on the trees. So many have been stripped. In past springs they looked like this.
The rock roses have proved to be hardy and flourishing bushes but the relentless wind sees the crepey flowers brown and shrivel.
And then there are the birds who must be exhausted battling through the endless gusts and the strength of the wind. Look at these two blackbird fledglings sheltering in a sunny and calm part of the garden this afternoon, resting while the parents are off foraging.

Blackbird fledgling resting to the right of the green tray.

As I went outdoors the parent bird flew near me and waited hopefully in the Magnolia tree.

I had nothing to offer him this time but I have been tossing scraps and crumbs out in greater quantities to help the birds survive.
Other parts of the country have been hard hit again today and we are hoping that the winds will abate tomorrow as predicted.

I have been watching the Bottle Brush bushes closely in the past week in the hope that I would see the colourful red brushes emerging. There is nothing yet but I can see plenty of the knobbly cases that the flowers burst from. This is another dish on the Tui and Wax eyes’ menu and provides a colourful show in the garden.

Wax eye

There have been signs of abundant new growth on the three bushes but the cold spring and lack of sunshine has probably delayed the flowers appearance.
This time last year the” table” was well covered with Tui nectar of the bottle brush kind. See this post.

This year I am watching this space, and awaiting developments, as they say…..